I believe that we are all talking about the same movie. If so thanks for helping me with the name. I know that I saw this movie when I was younger on what was called " The Movie Loft" with Dana Hershey. I don't know if you all remember that. Anyways, all I could remember was the childrens' hands were held out to their grandmother for a hug and the children had black fingernails and if they touched you they died. The night that I was watching this they went to commecial after that scene. That was stuck in my memory for years until now. Thanks

This is one of my favorite low-budget trash flicks and was probably the last gasp of twisted 70s horror cinema (even though it was released in 1980) before slasher movies took over. This was the kind of movie you'd go to see at the drive-in as the second film on a double bill with a much better movie. One of my fondest memories from childhood is seeing short trailers for films like "The Children" on television, and then plotting on how I would get to see them. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your viewpoint), films like this don't really get made anymore, so we'll have to cherish films like "The Children".

The other day my little granddaughter (22 months old) kept smiling and coming at me with her hands out, acting like she was all sweet and everything. But she really wanted to bite my shoulder. She was relentless in her pursuit to bite me. First thing I did - I checked her fingernails to see if they were black!!!! It's been 22 years since I've seen this movie, and I was pregnant with my gdd's mother at the time! I told my granddaughter that if she started saying, "mama" in that weird way, that I was going to chop her hands off. So, naturally, she started saying it. It's kinda freaky to see your 22 mo old granddaughter coming at you with her hands outstretched, saying, "mama!" Knowing good and well that all she wanted to do was be mean! Do you think she is one of "The" children?

I had to comment here...i have loved this movie since i was very young!Here let me set the scene: evening household sometime during the schoolyear in 1980...i was a 5 year old kid goin into first grade and i was pretty much able to decern for myself what i wanted to watch on television even at that age but in the case of The Children i think my parents were actually going to watch anyway so..i sat there eating a sandwich and drinking a Dr.Pepper too.heheheh how can you remember this so vividly? man i couldnt say...the movie did sortof frighten me at the time but it was also in that same year i would see the elephant man and i think i had watched salems lot the year before...yeh a 4 year old watching that..anyway its a weird parallel when your scred but thourally enjoy the feeling of being scared-THATS ME!!so anyway,i also remember a time that same year at school being made to stay after school because i didnt understand the paper we were supposed to work on...that b***h Mrs Woodworth not only yelled at me when i was the only kid there but also couldnt be bothered to call my mom and tell her where i was so when i didnt come home my mom called the school...and she was hella p**sed at her which i enjoyed her hitting the roof when i said she already had spanked me!but anyway...my point of this movie was after i got the ass whiping i totally ignored the teacher and took my trusty #02 pencil and started to colour in my fingernails maybe in some vauge hope i could get that flesh burning effect i so desperatly needed at that moment...unfortunatly it didnt work out to my hoped specificaltion...but that movie made a BIG impression on me and always loved it...i do remember taping it back in the very early 90s when it was on saturday nightmares and also seeing it on Comander USA's Groovie Movies(i watched him religiously ever Sat at noon sharp!!!)heheheh i was also a KISS fan and as a kid noticed that some members also wore black fingernail polish...i wondered if they saw the movie too,which now obviously i know better...tons of people wore it in rock...but none the less i pictured Gene $immons and Ace Frehley sizzling evil non fans of KISS to pizza equivilant!!! FUN FUN FUN!!! thanks for reading my rambling and zombie stumble down my childhood memories.....oh and i have plans as a young film maker to try to remake this film if i can get clearence fromm Rhino:)) scared yet?

Wow, I can't believe I found this website. I first saw "The Children" back when I was a little girl growing in up in Russia on a Russian channel that showed American movies. The movie has haunted me ever since. Any time anyone asks me what's the scariest movie I have ever seen, I have to say "The Children". It scared the living hell out of me when I saw it. My grandmother let me watch the channel when my mom was away. Boy, I bet she regretted that considering I woke up screaming with nightmares for over a month since seeing the movie. Looking at the clip and the screen shots now, I think how cheesy, but that was one scary movie when you are seven years old. I thought if I fell asleep I would wake up with those five kids standing over me, extending their little arms, showing me their creepy black fingernails. *shudders* I am so glad that so many people relate to how I felt about this movie. Does anyone know where I can get a copy of it besides Amazon? Is it available on the internet anywhere? I am going to see the Dawn of the Dead in theaters this weekend. I can only hope it will scare me as much as "the Children." Well, then again, maybe not... :-)

Ah, those great memories of lazy Saturday afternoons watching this and several other B-movies on USA many years ago. Hopefully, The Horror Channel that launches in October can recapture some of that horror movie magic.

well, yesterday I went to a Half-priced used video/cd/video game store & guess what movie I saw there? :)

My jaw dropped in amazement when I looked on the top shelf in the Horror video section. I quickly grabbed this movie & found out it was only $3To think, I've seen this go up to $20 & more on Ebay, I found it for only $3

Now, I've never seen this b4, I wasnt fortunate like some people here to see it as a child. So, I watched it last night & thought it was pretty fun & it had its creepy moments too.

Of course, the acting is bad & the dialogue is cheesy in spots, but damn it, I really enjoyed this movie. It was definately worth spending $3 on.

Thank you all! I love evrey single one of you! lol I have been trying to figure out the name of this movie for many, many years, ever since I saw part of this movie when I was a little kid late night on TNT. I remembered nothing else but those two facts: the kids had black fingernails, and it was shown on TNT. FInally, the Mystery of the Two Movies has been completely solved! It was this one and DOn't BE Afraid of the Dark, another movie that I couldn't remember the name of, but I did remember that it had little creatures that didn't like the light, and at the end, the woman got dragged down a chimney. Now if I can just get these two classics on DVD...

This is so weird!!!!!!!! This movie scared the crap out of me as a kid too,I've been asking around about it for I don't know how long and nobody knew what I was talking about!! I kept telling them there was a bus wreck,and kids with black nails that touched people and they burned to death, then they would say "Children of the Corn"!!!!!!!! NO!!!!!!!!! I finally decided tonight to try the internet, and also typed in what I could remember,mainly the black fingernails. I thought I was the only one to ever see this movie and started to believe maybe it didn't exsist and I was crazy!!!!! Well, thankyou everyone for proving me wrong on being crazy ( LOL )....

This has got to be the weirdest thing I have ever been a part of. It seems we all have the same experience with this movie. You've read it already but I have to tell my story. I'm 26 now and I was about 5 when I was at a friends house and this strange movie was on his TV. Well the only thing I remembered was the black fingernails. Until today I didn't know the name and I was sure I never would. Every now and again the memory pops in my head. Well today I decided after 21 years to get this itch scratched. Now I just have to find it because I have GOT to watch this movie. Seems so weird that so many folks have such a similar story about the same movie.

I'll just echo what everyone else has said here. Im 28 now, watched this probably 20 yrs ago, and was terrified. I actually slept w/ a plastic knife in my pillow case for weeks in case I had to do any hand chopping.

I'll add my name to the list of kids who's nights were traumatized by this movie. I remember seeing this at the local drive-in when I was 7. This was a double-feature with Death Ship. I had fallen asleep early into Death Ship, but I saw The Children. When it was on it's first cable run in the 80's I saw it whenever it was on. The movie totally freaked me out, but I had to watch it. This movie, Dawn of the Dead and The 78 version of Invasion of the Body Snatcher's all movies that kept me awake at night.

This comment is a little off-topic-I never saw this one but one commenter mentioned 'Don't Be Afraid of the Dark'-it scared the s**t out of me as aliitle kid-my sister would tease me about it-the whispering voices are CREEPY AS f**k and entirely unforgettable.